Daily Archives: December 20, 2012

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) A Soyuz spacecraft carrying an American, a Russian and a Canadian headed Wednesday for the International Space Station, where they will spend four months carrying out dozens of experiments.

The spacecraft launched from a Russian-leased manned-space facility in the frigid steppes of Kazakhstan at 6:12 p.m. (1212 GMT). It took off atop a towering Russian rocket and went into orbit about 15 minutes later.

American Tom Marshburn, Russian Roman Romanenko and Canadian Chris Hadfield will travel for two days in the capsule, before docking with the mammoth space station where three other people are already on board.

Russian Federal Space Agency chief Vladimir Popovkin said the liftoff took place "without a hitch."

"We have finished off this year of launches on a good and handsome note. There is now only one operation left, and that is the docking, which we are positive we successfully take place Friday," he said.

The docking's timing so close to Christmas added to the high emotional valence of spaceflight for Hadfield. "There are certain times of the year and certain times in life that are special by everybody's traditions. In my family's tradition, this is maybe the most special time of the year," he said.

The clear azure skies afforded a vivid view of the rocket as it took off, left a deep plume of white smoke and finally vanished into the distance as a vivid orange dot.

Among those watching was Hadfield's daughter, Kristian. "I'm feeling so happy. I mean, my dad just went to space. It's amazing. I'm feeling amazing," she said.

The International Space Station is the biggest orbiting outpost ever built and can sometimes be seen from the Earth with the naked eye. It consists of more than a dozen modules built by the U.S., Russia, Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency.

Marshburn, Romanenko and Hadfield will spend four months aboard the space station to conduct some 50 scientific experiments including a test for a system aimed at predicting natural calamities.

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Rocket with 3 onboard heads for space station

An American astronaut, a Russian cosmonaut, and the man who will become Canada's first space station commander are readying to launch to orbit Wednesday (Dec. 19).

NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield are due to blast off aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome Wednesday at7:12 a.m. EST (6:12 p.m. Baikonur time, or 1212 GMT).

The three spaceflyers will join the three men already on the space station to round out the Expedition 34 crew. Marshburn, Romanenko and Hadfield are due to spend about five months in space, and Hadfield will take over control of the station in March 2013 when the Expedition 35 mission begins.

Hadfield has been active on Twitter leading up to his flight, sharing memories from his previous two visits to space and thoughts on what's in store for him and his crewmates.

"To deal with pre-flight jitters I focus on what matters, right now, & 1 min from now," he wrote today (Dec. 18) in response to a follower's question. "The entire event is too big & overwhelming."

Marshburn, Romanenko and Hadfield will join current space station commander Kevin Ford of NASA, and Expedition 34 flight engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin, both cosmonauts. After the launch, it will take two days for the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft to catch up with the space station in orbit. Docking is expected on Friday (Dec. 21) at 9:12 a.m. EST (1412 GMT).

Marshburn, who worked as a NASA flight surgeon before joining the astronaut corps in 2004, has one previous space shuttle flight in 2009 under his belt. Romanenko will also be making his second trip to space following a six-month stay on the space station in 2009.

All three men have been training for this mission for years. "It's a two-and-a-half-year flow, so you have more time to get into depth in every subject," Marshburn said of his space station training, contrasting it to the shorter training regimen for space shuttle flights. [Video: Marshburn Talks to SPACE.com]

"We have to be plumbers, electricians, construction engineers, or workers, on the space station, but at the same time running a laboratory, being scientists, being the best laboratory assistants we can be," Marshburn told SPACE.com. "It's all in a bundle; it's very exciting, it's a lot of fun."

The spaceflyers will be arriving at the station just in time to celebrate an orbital Christmas.

Continue reading here:
Three New Crewmembers to Launch to Space Station Wednesday

This story was updated on Dec. 19 at 7:20 a.m. EST.

An American astronaut, a Russian cosmonaut, and the man who will become Canada's first space station commander lifted off today (Dec. 19) toward the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield launched aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome at7:12 a.m. EST (6:12 p.m. Baikonur time, or 1212 GMT).

"Everything is nominal onboard; we're feeling well," Romanenko, commanding the Soyuz, said through a translator just after launch. "We are feeling great."

The three spaceflyers will join the three men already on the space station to round out the Expedition 34 crew. Marshburn, Romanenko and Hadfield are due to spend about five months in space, and Hadfield will take over control of the station in March 2013 when the Expedition 35 mission begins.

Hadfield has been active on Twitter leading up to his flight, sharing memories from his previous two visits to space and thoughts on what's in store for him and his crewmates.

"To deal with pre-flight jitters I focus on what matters, right now, & 1 min from now," he wrote Dec. 18 in response to a follower's question. "The entire event is too big & overwhelming."

Marshburn, Romanenko and Hadfield will join current space station commander Kevin Ford of NASA, and Expedition 34 flight engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin, both cosmonauts. From now, it will take two days for the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft to catch up with the space station in orbit. Docking is expected on Friday (Dec. 21) at 9:12 a.m. EST (1412 GMT).

Marshburn, who worked as a NASA flight surgeon before joining the astronaut corps in 2004, has one previous space shuttle flight in 2009 under his belt. Romanenko is also making his second trip to space following a six-month stay on the space station in 2009.

All three men have been training for this mission for years. "It's a two-and-a-half-year flow, so you have more time to get into depth in every subject," Marshburn said of his space station training, contrasting it to the shorter training regimen for space shuttle flights. [Video: Marshburn Talks to SPACE.com]

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American, Canadian, and Russian Spaceflyers Launch to Space Station